A new study published this week by the public-interest organization ConnPIRG finds that people across America’s largest urbanized areas are driving much less than before, and Fairfield County is no different.
In the Bridgeport-Stamford Metropolitan Statistical Area – which encompasses the same footprint as Fairfield County – drivers decreased their miles driven by 5.5 percent between 2006 and 2011, outpacing the rest of the state. The drastic decrease landed Fairfield County in the top third of all the largest 100 urbanized areas in the nation for the fastest decline in driving. In New Haven, the rate declined by 3.8 percent, and in Hartford there was a 2.2 percent decrease, according to ConnPIRG.
“Bridgeport-Stamford is No. 32 out of 100 cities in the nation, which is a pretty significant decline in driving and the biggest we’ve seen in Connecticut,” said Sean Doyle, a program associate at ConnPIRG. And it’s not just the number of drivers that’s decreasing; passengers have also declined.
The decrease is seen most dramatically among the millennial generation. ConnPIRG reports that 16 to 34 year olds reduced their average number of miles driven by 23 percent between 2001 and 2009.
“The younger generation is the largest generation in the United States, and I think young people are just more willing and interested in using other form of transportation,” Doyle explained.
Read more in print later this week.
